August 11, 200817 yr I'm trying to make a hand bellows for my portable forge. Guess I'm getting to cheap to buy one on ebay. Seems like with freight you are looking at around $150+. :confused:Anyone know of any plans on the internet? I understand the outside, but not sure about the inside of the bellows. Thanks Mike ([email protected]) Houston, Texas:confused:
August 11, 200817 yr There used to be a really good set of plans online, but that was years ago and I can't find them now. I did find this:Bellows
August 11, 200817 yr Mike, I think there is a sketch in The Art of Blacksmithing by Alex W. Bealer. I loaned my copy to a friend so don't have it now. Lefty
August 11, 200817 yr The book available here: Smith's Work: With Numerous (Smiths' Work by Paul Hasluck on Google Books) has plans for a portable forge with a circular bellows. The plans begin at page 131. I built one last Fall and might be able to answer questions if you decide to go that way.
August 12, 200817 yr Thanks Mike, that's one I hadn't seen. It's safely tucked away in my smithing book file. Frosty
August 12, 200817 yr Try the followinghttp://iforgeiron.com/blueprints01/BPO127Bellows/BPO127.shtmlhttp://iforgeiron.com/blueprints01/BPO141Bellows/BPO141.shtml
August 12, 200817 yr Oops that did not work..... Try going through primalfires at yuko.com: The Leading Genealogy Site on the Net call up the traditional blacksmithing and metalworking page and put bellows construction in the search box. Its a bit long winded but I can call up the two iforgeiron blueprints on bellows construction via this route.www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0127Bellows/BP0127.shtmlwww.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0141Bellows/BP0141.shtml
August 12, 200817 yr Ok, last try then a large coffee..........yuko.com: The Leading Genealogy Site on the Net
August 12, 200817 yr VITA TECHNICAL BULLETIN it's got a good simple bellows design. They don't absolutely have to be triangle shaped/hinged. be merry, Archie
August 12, 200817 yr Aldren A. Watson wrote and illustrated a book, "A Village Blacksmith" , I think the title has been changed, that has an excellent set of drawings for building a bellows. The only part I would change is how to place the leather. I can make a smaller bellows work better than some larger ones by using more leather on the top chamber than the bottom chamber, as much as a 1/3 to 2/3 ratio. They are not very complicated to build, but time consuming. The other point that some miss and can cause problems, the valves need some sort of device to stop them from being able to flip over or stick open. I small piece of leather strap is all it takes.
August 12, 200817 yr I wonder if Tyvek would be a good replacement for the leather. Strong, flexible, not likely to be eaten by rodents. Good Luck!
August 12, 200817 yr Yeah, it probably would. I've used plastic sheet in a bellows which worked well.
August 12, 200817 yr www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0127Bellows/BP0127.shtmlwww.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0141Bellows/BP0141.shtml
August 12, 200817 yr The google book Smith's Work is missing pages 64-69. I just thought i would let you guys know it is not complete.
August 12, 200817 yr When I built my double action bellows I used the heavily impregnated tarp materials used to make wind wings for the oil patch. It lasted 20 years including being stored outside a couple of Ohio winters! The basics were: 3 solid boards: top, middle and bottom. Top board has no cut outs, middle and bottom board have intake valve cut outs on them. I made my flappers from AL with felt glued to them and very "loose" hinging. I aslo made a cage so that the valves couldn't flop over backwards. In between each set of solid boards I had a "horseshoe" board to help keep the "leathers" from popping out. The horse shoe and top and bottom boards are hinged to the nose piece. The middle board is hard attached---no hinging. The supports for the side of the bellows are attached to the middle piece. I glued up the nose piece from dimensional lumber and drawknifed the out side to shape and just used a piece of pipe for the outlet as that was what my forge was plumbed for. In use the bottom section of the bellows is pulled up by the handle using a lever that the blacksmith holds that is fastened to the top cross piece of the frame holding the bellows and a chain or rope down to the bottom board's handle. This pushes air up through the valves in the middle board inflating the top section. The top section is the one connected to the outlet and thus the forge and it "floats" on the air being pushed into it acting as a resevoir so that in a well designed double lunged bellows you can get continuous flow with no stops. If you need more air you place a weight on the top board so it will push out air faster and then pump the bottom faster. In general use I could pump my double lunged bellows with my pinkie and it would store enough air that I could let go and get a fast drink, change tongs or hammers, etc before it would be completely empty. If it's hard to use you have done it wrong! (picking the piviot point for the lever is a big part of it. I used a piece of rope looped arounf the cross bar and the lever so I could adjust it as needed)
August 12, 200817 yr I have a set of plans and instructions on making a double lung bellows. BP0141 Building a Bellows or Email me and I will send them to you. I made one set and I would do exactly what Jymm Hoffman said above about making the upper chamber bigger than the lower chamber. The set I made was 3 feet wide at the widest and 5 feet long. I would also use plywood instead of tongue in gruve lumber if I made another set. I put a removeable pannel in the top board so that if I had a problem with the valves between the chambers I could access the valves without removing the leather. Edited August 12, 200817 yr by Woody
August 12, 200817 yr Justin, I hadn't noticed the missing pages. If you search on "smiths work" (no apostrophe) in Google Books, you'll find the American version of the book. This version seems to be identical to the British one I linked, except that the copyright date is 1904 instead of 1902. And it has pages 64 -69.
August 13, 200817 yr Aldren A. Watson wrote and illustrated a book, "A Village Blacksmith" , I think the title has been changed, that has an excellent set of drawings for building a bellows. The book I have says The Blacksmith Ironworker and Farrier by Aldren A. Watson. I agree it has an excellent section on bellows construction. The bellows I use was made on this pattern.
August 22, 200817 yr Hi! This is my first post. Some months ago I found a site for appropriate technology for third world development and there are 2 of the thousands of bulletins available, that deal with blacksmithing and blowers. A double action inner tube bellows by Inversin, and an oil drum forge with single action inner tube bellows and the construction of a centrifugal blower in the same bulletin; they are in this address (just checked and they are still there).http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/CD3WD/index.htm Ok, now I Edited August 22, 200817 yr by Grafvitnir
August 22, 200817 yr Hi! This is my first post. Some months ago I found a site for appropriate technology for third world development and there are 2 of the thousands of bulletins available, that deal with blacksmithing and blowers. A double action inner tube bellows by Inversin, and an oil drum forge with single action inner tube bellows and the construction of a centrifugal blower in the same bulletin; they are in this address (just checked and they are still there).http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/CD3WD/index.htm Ok, now I Edited August 22, 200817 yr by BeaverDamForge
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